The present invention relates to apparatus for wet treatment of X-ray films, photographic paper and/or other web- or sheet-like carriers of photosensitive material. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus wherein carriers of photosensitive material are transported through one or more liquid baths, for example, by resorting to one or more pairs of advancing rolls.
Apparatus of the just outlined character are especially suited for wet treatment of sheet- or web-like carriers in a developing machine. As a rule, a developing machine comprises several vessels each of which contains a different liquid (e.g., a developer, a fixing bath and a rinsing bath), and successive carriers are transported seriatim through the various baths prior to entering a drying unit. The intervals of dwell of carriers in various vessels are determined by the speed at which the carriers are transported through the developing machine, by the distances which the carriers cover during travel through the respective baths, and by the dimensions of the vessels.
In presently known apparatus for wet treatment of X-ray films, photographic paper or the like, the carriers of photosensitive material are invariably transported along a substantially horizontal path. In most instances, the apparatus are so-called table models and, since the path along which the carriers move is horizontal, such apparatus occupy a substantial amount of floor space. Moreover, the attendant who is stationed at the inlet where successive carriers enter the first bath is incapable of monitoring the outlet because the latter is located at a substantial distance from the inlet.